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Letter from John Taylor of the Cannon Coffee House, Charing Cross to Alexander Dalrymple Esq, 17 Feb 1795. Covering letter to a 1794 proof copy of Captain Taylor's Considerations on the practicability and advantages of a more speedy communication between Great Britain and her possessions in India [advocating the superiority of the overland route above the usual sea voyage]. 'I hope I have profited by the advice you was kind enough to give me some time ago in regard to the accompanying plan ... I have ... condensed the subject and am now busy in arranging what authorities I have been able to collect ...'.

Autograph, with signature.

Papers relating to shipping at Southampton, 1844-1847, comprising:

1. Printed form, completed in manuscript, headed 'The Grand Turk. Captain V. Wrightson from Southampton to Havre'. The form provides for entries of the number and names of hands (not entered), log of the voyage (Southampton and Portsmouth), nature and value of merchandise carried, and cabins occupied, 28-30 Sep 1844. It is endorsed '1 Havre Station. G.Turk. Sep 28 - Oct 1 [18]44. £85 12s.O. C.B. 56.'
2. Valuations of the following vessels: Monarch, Atalanta, Ariadne, Camilla, and Sarah (coal hulk), all th £8,800; Calpe, Transit, South Western, Grand Turk, Lady de Saumarez, Robert Burns, City of Edinbro', and Queen Mab (coal hulk), all worth £14, 718; and also of 12 horse boxes on wheels (£84), and one office on wheels (£15) belonging to the South Western Steam Packet Company; and of mooring chains, anchors, etc., of the hulks Queen Mab and Sarah (£70). Each valuation is signed by Joseph White, ship builder, East Cowes, for Ritherdon & Carr, Oct 1844.
3. Three bills of sale, completed in manuscript, for the Ariadne, Camilla and Monarch, all dated 8 Jun 1847, sold to George Henderson of Southampton, and Matthew Uzielli, merchant, of 62 King William Street, London, by the trustees of the South of England Steam Navigation Company. Each bill is endorsed 'Custom House Southampton' 21 June 1847, with signatures of customs officials. The bills include details of the construction (and subsequent alterations) of the ships, date of building, and date of registrations. On the dorse of each bill is a printed form, completed in manuscript, for the receipt of money.
   (a) Bill of sale for Ariadne of Southampton, master John Fuszard, sold for £3,000.
   (b) Bill of sale for the Camilla of Southampton, master John Priaulx, sold for £2,000.
   (c) Bill of sale for the Monarch of Southampton, master Richard White, sold for £10,000.

Letter from Richard Smith of 'Bordeaux River', [France] to Seth Barton, merchant, Baltimore, [USA], 1794. Giving the terms of a charter party between James Swan and Co and Thomas Harris, on the London Packet (c 260 tons), which was to take on a cargo of wines and brandy at Bordeaux, to carry to Baltimore; discussing expenses and asks Barton to take out £400 insurance for him.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Samuel Plimsoll of 28 Park Lane, London to [?a newspaper editor], 26 Feb 1890. Complaining of frequent allegations that: 'I seek to subject English ship-owners to restrictions and regulations from which foreigners are exempted.' He has obtained evidence from the Board of Trade to show that foreign ships are not thus privileged.

Autograph, with signature.

Papers relating to property of John Michie, Director of the East India Company, at 'Muffets' or North Mimms, Hertfordshire, comprising a list of the fields, woods, etc. with their acreages, dated May 1780. There is also a list of those paying land tax, with the amounts, headed 'Present rate of North Myms Common' 7 Jul 1780.
On the reverse of one list is a brief memorandum headed 'By the Joint Committee of private Trade and Shipping', concerning an enquiry into the conduct of captain Peter Douglas of the Queen and Captain John Coggan of the Shrewsbury for 'parting company outward bound contrary to the orders of the Secret Committee' in 1777, dated 5 May 1780, initialled by four of the Company directors, and with a note that it was read in court. The documents are accompanied by a wrapper endorsed 'Muffets. (Account of Grounds by Messrs. Michie'.

Letter written by Richard Lawson, dated 21 May 1800 on the island of St Thomas, Virgin Islands, addressed to Messrs. Anderson [of London], concerning Lawson's schooner Nonesuch which 'arrived here about a couple of months ago...with a Cargo of Negroes which turned out extreemly well'; and business of Mr. Lalanda of St Thomas in the court of the Vice-Admiral relating to the capture of a vessel taken to Jamaica while on its way to St Domingo.

Letter from Quintin Hogg of 5 Richmond Terrace, Whitehall, London [replacing 23 Rood Lane, London which has been struck through] to Mr Parker, 26 Feb 1876. Detailing the final stages of the transfer of an estate called 'Industry' by Parker to Hogg; mentioning the shipping of sugar and rum.

Autograph, with signature.

Manuscript volume containing an Order in Council, 2 May 1654, signed by William Jessop, Clerk of the Council of State, concerning the discharge of some merchant ships from service with the Royal Navy, and ordering that the new coined money on the Tower of London, along with cash from the sale of prize goods, should be used by the Admiralty Commissioners to defray the charge of freight and wages of those ships. The Order was approved on 4 May 1654.

Nine printed bills of lading, completed in manuscript, for ships bound for Marseilles, including those for Le Décidé bound from Salonika, 1728; St Jean l'Évangéliste, from Istanbul, 1733; Le Benjamin, from Smyrna, 1763; Sainte Marie, from Port Maurice, 1765; La Fortune, from St Pierre, Martinique, 1765; La Napolitaine, from Naples, 1778; L'Aimable Marguerite, from Smyrna, 1779; S. Giovanni Battista, from Genoa, 1787 and 1788. Also includes a similar bill of lading for La Vièrge de Grace, bound from Marseilles to St Malo, 1729. Merchandise carried included raw cotton, yellow wax, fish, oil, vinegar, soap, coffee and silk.

Printed bill of lading, 1799, completed in manuscript for the schooner Pearl bound for Demerara (British Guiana) from Stonington, Connecticut, USA. Cargo includes mess beef and pork, prime beef and pork, mutton, bass, codfish, mackerel, horses, mules and cattle.

Printed bill of lading completed in manuscript for the ship Sprightly Packett, 19 Oct 1782, at Bristol and bound for Cork with eight hogsheads of dye goods.